Clear Standards

Pennsylvania Standards describe what students should know and be able to do; they increase in complexity and sophistication as students progress through school. The Assessment Anchors clarify the Standards assessed on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) and can be used by educators to help prepare students for the PSSA. The metaphor of an anchor signals that the Assessment Anchors clarify the relationship between state Standards and our assessment system. Assessment Anchors are further elaborated with Eligible Content. Eligible Content identifies how deeply an Anchor should be covered and specifies the range of the content to best prepare students for the PSSA. Not all of the Eligible Content is assessed on the PSSA, but it shows the range of knowledge from which we design the test.